Falling short

Beach ends season with fifth place finish

Water polo • Junior goalie Thomas Onyshko makes one of his 19 saves during the MPSF Tournament at Stanford over the weekend. Claire Howie/Online Forty-Niner

 

By Moria Khou
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

A season filled with volatility and inconsistency came to a close for the Long Beach State men's water polo team as they went 2-1, capturing fifth-place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament in Palo Alto, Sunday.

"We played with so much heart this weekend," sophomore Reid Tomassi said. "Friday's loss was tough, really tough. We were able to pull together and get the win over UCSB and then avenge our loss last week to Pepperdine."

Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center played host to the tournament that saw the No. 4-seed 49ers get upset by the No. 5-seed UC Irvine in the opener on Friday. The 49ers fell short by a goal, 6-5, which summed up the entire season.

With a pair of goals in the first period, Long Beach State jumped to an early 2-1 lead.

Junior goalkeeper, Joe Wynne held the 49ers at bay in the second quarter not allowing a goal. Meanwhile, the Anteaters bit away at the lead to tie the score at two going into halftime.

UC Irvine resumed play, scoring three times in the third period to take a commanding 5-3 lead.

The Beach made one last surge in the final quarter with goals from sophomores Jay Gerardi and Tomassi. The Anteaters withstood the attack as senior Rick Merlo fired the game winner past goalie Thomas Onyshko.

The loss dropped Long Beach State into the consolation bracket as they tried to make amend against No. 8-seed UC Santa Barbara, Saturday.

The Beach held off the Gauchos 12-11 in overtime during their last encounter in late October. On Saturday, the 49ers did the same to down the Gauchos in double-overtime, 14-12.

UC Santa Barbara held the early two-point advantage at halftime, 6-4, but Long Beach State didn't panic. Tomassi helped rallied the troops posting a career-high with six goals in the match. At the end of regulation, the game was even, 10-10.

The momentum carried over into the first overtime for The Beach. Gerardi found the back of the net once and Scoles slipped the ball past goalkeeper Jon Bonafede twice. The Gauchos answered back with one goal in both the first and second overtime period, but ultimately came up short as the 49ers won by two.

Tomassi's six goals tied a school record for second all-time in goals scored in a game.

With the win, Long Beach State advanced to the fifth-place game in the MPSF Tournament on Sunday against rival, No. 7-seed Pepperdine. The Waves crashed on the 49ers' regular season finale by a score of 6-5. Not looking to repeat unpleasant history, The Beach showed its pride and returned the favor as they beat Pepperdine, 9-8.

Pepperdine scores by senior Josh Acosta and freshman Adam Hewko in the third helped to assure the victory, as the Waves took an 8-6 lead into the final period.

The 49ers fought back for the final time this season. The Beach scored three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter, including the game winner also by Scoles with 1:19 left on the clock to clinch fifth-place at the MPSF Tournament.

Goalie Onyshko closed out the weekend adding 19 saves to his season total of 233 saves. He now has 566 saves in his career, third all-time on the goalie saves list at Long Beach State, trailing Adam Carter (586) second all-time by just 20 saves.